Summary: What is the purpose of life? This series explores our 5 basic, God given, purposes and how to live them out. (Part 1)

I am so glad that each of you has decided to be here tonight because we are about to begin an amazing journey that will lead us to new and exciting places.

Welcome to the 40 Days of Purpose… for those of you who may not know we are beginning a 40-day look into why we are here. Not here as why are we here in this room, but why are we here on earth, why do we exist, why am I alive? All of us in this place right now either have asked those questions or will at some point in their lives. There is something about the way reality is constructed that makes our little brains ask and wonder why am I alive. And it also makes us wonder things like does my life even matter, and even questions like do I have a purpose in life?

Those are the three great questions in life and we begin tonight looking into the first.

The first great question in life is, why am I alive?

When I was in college I minored in philosophy, which is a very difficult subject for most, but for some reason I am able to understand it very easily and tonight I will share philosophy in a nut-shell for you. Are you ready? Here it is… Philosophy is a bunch of men who have way to much time on their hands sitting around trying to figure the same question we are, why am I here? That is it… not real hard! But seriously these are important questions and they are questions that even the Bible talks about. Jeremiah was a guy in the Bible who lived a long time ago lets say 2,600 years ago and he said this:

“Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow and to end my life in disgrace?” Jeremiah 20:18 TEV

As you can see trying to figure this question out can be a bit difficult and frustrating. I once heard someone say that, “I hope life isn’t a joke because I don’t get it…” But I want us to get it, God wants us to get it! He made us and he knows why he did it so maybe he might just have the answers. Throughout your life though you are going to here many different people try to tell you why you are. They will tell you things like look within yourself to find the meaning of life or if you go to some of the bookstores on college campuses you will find a lot of self – help books that try to get you to believe that the answer is to invent your own purpose… But all of these new age and self-help tools to discover your purpose in life are all flawed and here’s why.

Your purpose in life, the reason you were made is bigger than you! You can look within yourself and try to self improve yourself all you want and reach ultimate success in the world eyes but still wind up like this:

For example, H.G. Wells, famous historian and philosopher, said at age 61: "I have no peace. All life is at the end of the tether." The poet Byron said, "My days are in yellow leaf, the flowers and fruits of life are gone, the worm and the canker, and the grief are mine alone." The literary genius Thoreau said, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation." Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists of the nations, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: "I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day."